Homeopathic, herbal drugs being targeted in crackdown: PAAM

LAHORE:Pakistan Association of Alternative Medicine (PAAM) has criticised the Punjab government’s ongoing campaign against fake medicines, which it believes, is actually a conspiracy against the alternative industry.

'The crackdown will tarnish Pakistan’s image around the world, which will drastically reduce Pakistan’s exports. In the past too, India has taken advantage of similar crackdowns and captured the world markets,' says Dr Kashif Aslam, President of Pakistan Association of Alternative Medicine (PAAM), while expressing his concerns over the Punjab government’s crackdown on the alternative industry.

It is commendable to curb counterfeit medicines, but it is not fair to target homeopathic, herbal and Unani medicines under this guise. Currently, homeopathic and Unani treatment methods are becoming popular in the world and this method of treatment is cheap and within the reach of the poor.

The crackdown will have negative effects on the economy and Pakistan’s exports will also suffer. He said that in the past these same people have been fooling the Punjab CM and the pharmaceutical industry has been harassed while ‘our pharma industry is not less than any developed country in terms of quality as confirmed by their drug testing laboratories’. It can also be done from statistics. The ongoing crackdown by the Punjab government can only be an advertising campaign and a means of cheap publicity, he said.